1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel that can induce plasma sustain discharge via an opposed electrode discharge.
2. Description of Related Art
A plasma display panel (PDP) displays an image using visible light emitted from phosphor material that is bombarded with vacuum ultraviolet (UV) rays. The UV rays are emitted from a plasma formed when a gas within the PDP is energized via a discharge of electricity. PDPs can be used to manufacture large high resolution screens, and have thus been highlighted as the next generation of display devices.
A conventional plasma display panel incorporates three-electrodes arranged in a predetermined pattern. This structure generally includes a front substrate having two display electrodes formed thereon and a rear substrate that is spaced apart from the front substrate at a predetermined distance and on which address electrodes are formed. The space between both substrates is divided into a plurality of discharge cells by barrier ribs, a phosphor layer formed in the discharge cell faces the rear substrate, and a discharge gas is injected into each discharge cell.
As mentioned above, transparent display electrodes are formed on the same surface of the front substrate, while address electrodes are formed on the rear substrate. Thus, in the conventional plasma display panel, the address discharge occurs using opposing pairs of address and display electrodes, but the sustain discharge occurs using only surface-adjacent display electrodes. Thus, the address discharge used to select a pixel for illumination uses an opposed-electrode discharge, while the sustain discharge used to illuminate the selected pixel to a desired brightness uses a same-surface electrode discharge.
In the conventional PDP, a distance between a display electrode and its corresponding address electrode is generally greater than a distance between two adjacent display electrodes. The discharge firing voltage of the address discharge, however, is less than the discharge firing voltage of the display discharge because the address discharge is induced using an opposed discharge rather than a surface discharge.
On the other hand, the discharge area is divided into a sheath region and a positive column region. The sheath region is a non-emitting region surrounding around a dielectric layer or an electrode and most of the voltage is consumed in the sheath region. The positive column region is a region that can actively generate plasma discharge at a very low voltage. Accordingly, the efficiency of the plasma display panel may be increased by increasing the positive column region. Since the length of the sheath region is not related to the discharge gap, a method of enlarging a discharge length may be used as a method of enlarging the positive column region. Increasing the discharge gap is problematic, however, because increasing the discharge gap also increases the discharge firing voltage.
Accordingly, a conventional plasma display panel cannot simultaneously achieve a low discharge firing voltage and high discharge efficiency.